PICTOU, N.S. - A Nova Scotia man convicted of second-degree murder after another man was shot in the face more than two years ago has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 13 years.

Judge Arthur LeBlanc of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court sentenced Bernard Hartling on Monday after hearing victim impact statements from members of Kenneth McNamara's family.

The Crown has suggested there was a hit on McNamara's life, but Hartling told police that a shotgun in his truck went off accidentally more than two years ago when he sat outside McNamara's home in Central Caribou.

A police videotape played at Hartling's trial showed him explaining what happened.

An RCMP officer testified that Hartling showed up at the Westville detachment a day after the killing on Nov. 14, 2009, with his lawyer and his mother.

During the recorded statement, Hartling said he was alone when he drove to McNamara's home with a loaded shotgun in the front of his truck.

"I was outside his place and his wife came out and I asked if Kenny was around," he said in the police video. "Kenny came running down the stairs, opened up his truck door, grabbed something that he put in his pants and started walking to where I was."

He told the officer he thought McNamara had taken a gun from his truck.

"He opened his truck door and put what I thought was a gun in his pants," he said. "It looked like a gun and he started coming towards the truck."

Hartling said he pointed his loaded shotgun out the window of his truck and the weapon went off.

"I must have hit the trigger with my sleeve," he told the officer.

The 30-year-old McNamara was fatally shot in the face as he stood at the end of his driveway.

Hartling said he was an avid bird hunter who spent a lot of time in the woods and often drove around during the day with the shotgun loaded.

This was the second trial for Hartling after a mistrial was declared a year ago when a jury couldn't come to a verdict.

Hartling was charged with first-degree murder but a jury convicted him of the lesser charge.